New Briefcases Aren't Needed

January 10, 1995|The Morning Call

It is small change in the state's $15.6 billion 1994-95 general fund budget. It is a minuscule portion of the state House's approximately $98 million appropriation this year. And it amounts to less than 3 percent of the $414,000 the House's chief clerk has to spend.

But at the beginning of every new two-year session of the state House, each of the 203 representatives gets a new, black leather briefcase. It's a tradition going back years. Even if you're a re-elected incumbent, you get a new briefcase. This year the tradition cost taxpayers $12,262 -- about $60 per briefcase.

The annual gift supposedly helps the lawmakers tote files back and forth to their home offices. But hold on. Last year former House Speaker H. William DeWeese embarked on a $2 million plan to computerize the House so lawmakers could review legislation at their desks. That raises the prospect that lawmakers might someday soon be able to use the electronic information superhighway to reduce a lot of paper shuffling. Which would mean briefcases would be just another superfluous, money-wasting tradition. The House could bring that day a little closer by ditching the briefcase tradition now.